The Gellenstrom is a

shipping channel In physical geography, a channel is a type of landform consisting of the outline of a path of relatively shallow and narrow body of water or of other fluids (e.g., lava), most commonly the confine of a river, river delta or strait. The word is c ...

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

and forms the northwestern access to the ports of

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...

and

Strelasund The Strelasund or Strela Sound is a sound or lagoon of the Baltic Sea which separates Rügen from the German mainland. It is crossed by a road and rail bridge called the Rügendamm in Stralsund. It runs northwest to southeast from a small shallow ...

. It is located in the

west of the peninsula of

Gellen The Gellen or Gellen Peninsula (german: Halbinsel Gellen) is a spit at the southern end of the island of Hiddensee off the north German Baltic coast. Its southern part is protected as an important bird reserve and is part of protection zone I of t ...

which gives it its name and which forms part of the island of

Hiddensee Hiddensee () is a car-free island in the Baltic Sea, located west of Germany's largest island, Rügen, on the German coast. The island has about 1,000 inhabitants. It was a holiday destination for East German tourists during German Democratic ...

. In addition, it is the main route from the

Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain The Darss-Zingst Bodden ChainMüller, Felix et al. (2010). ''Long-Term Ecological Research: Between Theory and Application'', ''Coastal Lagoons - Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain'', Sect. 12.3.3, Springer, Heidelberg, London, New York, p. 173. (german: ...

to the Baltic. The Gellenstrom has a guaranteed depth of 3.70 metres and is controlled by the

light which marks its northern approach. The maximum speed limit is 10 kn. To the south is the port of Barhöft, which is also accessible from the Gellenstrom via the Barhöft Creek (''Barhöft -Rinne''). To the west is the island of

Bock Bock is a strong beer in Germany, usually a dark lager. Several substyles exist, including: *Doppelbock (''Double Bock''), a stronger and maltier version *Eisbock (''Ice Bock''), a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer an ...

, which was formed from sand dredged from the channel.

References

{{Coord, 54, 27, 59.566, N, 13, 3, 31.36, E, type:waterbody_region:DE-MV_dim:2500, display=title Baltic Sea Vorpommern-Rügen Hiddensee Shipping channels